Curiosity Wins National Air and Space Museum Trophy

Curiosity's Entry, Descent and Landing Team at National Air and Space Museum

The entry, descent and landing team of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project received the 2013 Trophy for Current Achievement from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on April 24, 2013.

Pictured here in the back row are the following members of the team (from left to right): Tom Rivellini, Gavin Mendeck, Steve Lee, Miguel San Martin, Tomas Martin-Mur, Adam Steltzner, Ben Thoma, Howard Eisen and Ravi Prakash. In the front row (from left to right) are: Carl Guernsey, Keith Comeaux, Jody Davis, Ann Devereaux, Allen Chen and Fuk Li. The team members are from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., except for Mendeck (NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston) and Davis (NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.).

National Air and Space Museum Trophy for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory

The leader of the entry, descent and landing team of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project, Adam Steltzner of JPL (left), accepts the 2013 Trophy for Current Achievement from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum from museum director Gen. J. R. "Jack" Dailey on April 24, 2013.

Image Credit: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

The team in charge of successfully landing NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., received the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's highest group honor at a dinner in Washington on Wednesday night, April 24. The 2013 Trophy for Current Achievement honors outstanding achievements in the fields of aerospace science and technology.

The Mars Science Laboratory Project built and operates the rover Curiosity, which has been investigating past and current environments in Gale Crater on the Red Planet since its dramatic sky-crane landing in August 2012. The rover has 10 science instruments to investigate whether an area within Gale Crater ever has offered an environment favorable for microbial life.

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Several NASA planetary mission teams have won the award in previous years, including last year, when NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn, also managed by JPL, picked up the trophy. For a full listing of previous awardees, visit: http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/trophy/nasm.cfm .